Eero Saarinen's Iconic TWA Terminal Is Getting A New Lease On Life

Back in April, Curbed revealed that Eero Sarrinen's famous TWA terminal at New York's JFK Airport would be turning into a hotel. At the time, rumors began flying that airline carrier JetBlue would be the company behind the transformation.

Now, according to Crain's, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has confirmed: JetBlue and MRC development will in fact be turning the terminal into a posh boutique hotel.

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A rendering of MRC Development and JetBlue's plans for the terminal.

Courtesy of MCR Development

The TWA terminal, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, opened to the public in 1962, according to Curbed. Designed by famous neofuturistic architect Eero Saarinen – and completed after his death in 1961 – the terminal was a state-of-the-art hub for air transportation in its day. Its opening also marked the start of mass air transit in the Unites States, as TWA offered affordable flight options to middle class Americans.

However, like fellow airline Pan Am, TWA's boom in popularity didn't last. Through the later decades of the 20th century, TWA struggled to stay in business, resulting in a total shut down in 2001.

While talk of demolishing parts of the hub to make way for a brand new one came about in 2003, the plans never came to fruition, and the iconic structure has gone virtually unvisited and unchanged since closing its doors.

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Travelers pass through TWA's terminal 5 in 1968.

GettyUllstein Bild

Already named the "TWA Flight Center Hotel," 6sqft notes that while the new JetBlue hotel will be the airline's second (it has one for employees only in Florida), it will be its first to open to the public.

The new hotel will boast 505 rooms, 40,000 square feet of meeting space, and up to eight restaurants, with the old terminal serving as the lobby.

If this concept of luxury hotels on airport grounds takes off, we might go from dreading overnight layovers to secretly hoping for them.